Author(s): Noel Pearson

Essays

Mission traces a life of politics, ideas and inspiring words. Whether he is evoking his early life among the Guugu Yimithirr Aboriginal people at Hope Vale, Queensland, or making an eloquent case for Indigenous recognition, or outlining his vision of a reconciled, multicultural Australia, Noel Pearson confirms he is one of Australia's most powerful and influential thinkers - and an extraordinary writer.

Mission selects the best of Pearson's work to date. There are indelible portraits of political leaders seen close up - Keating, Rudd, Whitlam, Turnbull and more. There is Pearson's brilliant vision of a Voice to Parliament that led eventually to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

And there are acute analyses - of passive welfare; of the fate of the Labor Party; of identity politics good and bad; and of education and the role of an inspiring teacher. Mission is honest, powerful, provocative and utterly original.